Say Anything
by BlackNymph
Summary: She wished that once, just once, he would tell her something. Anything. KanoIno


Ino bit back a sigh, leaning forward to rest her elbows on her knees, tilting her head to one side, eyes meeting the sight of an agitated black hood. She didn't think she could be more confused--Kankurou and his siblings were in Konoha for a few days, and they had decided to spend this last day, not filled with missions and peace treaty signings, with each other.

Normally, this would be the setup for a perfect date in Ino's eyes, but--

_That damn sourpuss has been acting distant all day._ She could find no explanation for it. Not a one. Since deciding that their relationship would be exclusive, Ino had changed her outfit back to one that was less revealing, and had kept her previous habit of flirting--mostly for free meals, but also quite common during spy missions gone wrong--to a dead halt. But he was still acting as though he'd caught her in bed with his best friend.

She let her arms flop back to her sides with a small huff, stretching her legs out in front of her with a similar sound. Another glance was sent to him, but, much to her chagrin, he had not even turned to face her. Ino scowled, eyebrows furrowing into what had long been renowned as her "pouty face, dammit."

Her thin arms folded over her chest, picking up her legs again and scrunching into a ball.

"Hey."

Her expression lightened, and she turned to him, smiling at his painted countenance. "Yeah?"

His scowl twisted to match her previous one, and he turned his face away again. "Quit moving around so much."

"Oh fuck no." Ino shot up from the ground, moving to stand over him, hands on her hips, grimace firmly back in place. "What the hell is your problem?" she demanded.

Kankurou's head barely turned, but she caught the narrowing of his eyes at the question. "Excuse me?"

If there was one thing Ino hated more than anything, it was repeating herself, and all the more so when it was very clear exactly what she meant. "You heard me." And she was sure of this, her tone laced with hints of a challenge.

Slowly, deliberately, Kankurou stood, taking full advantage the he was at least a head taller than the blonde. When he caught her eyes, narrowed in the most indignant fashion, his own became slits, cold slipping through the creases to create a look that would chill anyone else to the bone. But Ino stood firm, the corners of her lips twisting all the more downward.

"I must have heard wrong, because," he began, his tone as frigid as his gaze. "I thought I heard you say there was something wrong with _me_."

Ino bristled, her temper flaring to clash against the puppeteer's iciness. A smarter person would have kept this under control. A smarter person would have skirted around the fact, wheedling inside to figure out what was wrong and how to fix it. And a smarter person would have cared. "There **is** something wrong with you, smartass!" she snapped. Kankurou opened his mouth to retaliate, but Ino wasn't quite done. "We've been out today for close to three hours, because you and your family are leaving today, but instead of being my boyfriend, you've been this quiet, distant asshole, and you want to blame that on me?"

"Well, I wouldn't, if it wasn't your fault!"

"**My** fault?! How the hell is it **my** fault?!"

Kankurou's fingers curled into a fist, nails biting against his palms through the fabric of his gloves, teeth ground in frustration. He didn't know how it was her fault. Hell, he barely knew what 'it' even was. The entire week he'd been in Konoha, he'd been looking forward to seeing Ino, and he'd made damn sure to let everyone know about it ('everyone' being 'Gaara and Temari').

But when he finally saw her, at the local barbeque with her team, he couldn't get over the sharp pang of anger, of hate, of plain old jealousy he felt. And because of that, he just couldn't look at her the same way.

Finally, when the vein in his neck reached the throbbing point, he shouted, "I don't fucking know, okay?!" Furious, he let himself fall back to the ground, punching a fist against it along the way. "It's just that...you and your fucking..._team_--"

Ino, having been silent until that point, snapped, "Hey! You leave my team out of this; they didn't do anything to you!"

Kankurou fisted his hands on the ears of his hood. "I know! But they're just..._there_, and I should be there, but I'm fucking not, and...ARGH, goddammit!" He pounded on the ground again, refusing to meet Ino's eyes.

The blonde frowned, but said nothing as she moved to seat herself behind him, all but leaning on his back. There was a long moment of silence, both waiting for the other to say something. Eventually, Ino broke the ice. "Y'know...you can tell me this kind of stuff." She glanced over her shoulder to make sure he was listening.

"I mean, I know we don't have the most secure relationship--" Kankurou raised his head, but Ino snapped, "And don't you dare apologize; I know we live in different countries, and there's not much we can do about that for now, so shut up." Somewhat mollified when the man put his head back on his knees, she continued. "But, I mean, you can tell me stuff. Stuff you like, stuff you don't like, stuff you want, stuff that's bothering you. You can tell me that stuff, 'cause...that's what a relationship is."

The puppet-master raised his head, grinning despite himself. "Relationship, huh?"

Ino laughed brightly. "I'm afraid that's what this is, doll."

"Oh, so we're back to the puppet jokes?"


End file.
